The Babysitting Detective
by ninewood
Summary: Set after the end of the Season 4 finale, Sherlock looks after Rosie when John is called to see a patient.


_**A/N: This is my first Sherlock one shot. Please review.**_

"You need me to do what?" Sherlock Holmes asked while holding John's daughter, Rosie, in his arms and John gave him a little smile.

"I need you to look after Rosie until I get back from the hospital," John said.

"Why are you going to the hospital?" Sherlock asked and John was impressed with the concern in his voice.

"I was called in to do a consultation," John said and saw the relief in Sherlock's eyes. "It's just for a few hours."

"Why can't Mrs. Hudson do it?"

"She has a cold."

"Why can't you get Molly to do it?"

"She didn't want to."

"She didn't want to come over to your house and look after Rosie?"

"No, I asked her to come over here because I was coming back afterwards."

"Why didn't she want to come over here?"

"She said something about not wanting to be around you."

Sherlock felt like he had been shot in the chest as he focused on a spot on the wall and John noticed the look on his face.

"Have you talked to her yet?" John asked in reference to Eurus forcing Sherlock to get Molly to say "I love you" or she would kill her.

"I will at some point," Sherlock said as he lightly moved Rosie hand from pulling on his earlobe and gave her a blank look.

"I have to go. Everything is in the nappy bag and you have my number if you get overwhelmed," John said when he walked closer and kissed Rosie's cheek. He gave her a slightly sad look then walked to the door and left the flat. Sherlock looked at Rosie when Rosie's lower lip started quivering and tears appeared in the corner of her eyes.

"No. Don't do that. Don't cry," Sherlock said while large tears dribbled down her cheeks and she started whimpering. Sighing, he held her against him while lightly rubbing her back and started pacing. She made soft sniffing noises as he lightly wiggled her up and down and tried to figure out how to calm her down. He looked at her then at the nappy bag as he tried to remember what was inside the nappy bag and frowned. Rosie sobbed harder when he started humming and kept pacing. Rosie seemed to calm down as he looked at her and his eyebrows went up. "Are you serious?! You like that?! I'm not even humming a song."

Rosie lightly pulled on his earlobe as he shrugged and started humming again while pacing.

"We've been through this before, Watson," Sherlock said while looking at Rosie sitting on the plastic baby chair and frowned. "You see, but do not observe. To you, the world is an impenetrable mystery whereas, to me, it's an open book. You fail to connect actions to their consequences."

Kneeling down, he picked the baby rattle off the floor and Rosie looked at him then at the rattle.

"Now, let's try it again. If you want to keep the rattle…you do not throw the rattle."

He handled the rattle back to her when she took the rattle and tossed it into his face. Sherlock rolled his eyes as she looked at him and he held the rattle in his hand.

 _Why does she keep doing this? She clearly wants the rattle. Yet, after I pick the rattle off the floor and give it back to her, she…._

"Oh," he said with a small smile and arched his eyebrows up while looking at her. "You do understand. As long as you throw it at me, I pick it up and handed it back to you. Well, not this time."

Standing up, Sherlock walked to the fireplace mantel then turned and placed the rattle on the mantel. Rosie looked at the rattle while he crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a blank look.

"No, you will only get it back when you stop throwing it at me," he said and her lower lip quivered. "And using tears no longer works."

He watched as her face grew sadder, but he refused to budge. When a knot of guilt developed in his chest, he sighed, rolled his eyes and couldn't believe he was giving in. Picking the rattle off the mantel, he walked to the chair when he sat on the floor and handed her the rattle. Rosie took the rattle then looked at Sherlock and held the rattle out to him. Smiling, he took the rattle when he lightly tapped the rattle against the tip of her nose and she giggled.

"Why won't you eat this?" Sherlock asked while holding the spoon in his hand and Rosie shook her head. He picked up the jar of baby food he had found in the nappy bag and analyzed the contents of the jar. "There's nothing in here that's dangerous."

Using the spoon, he scooped some of the baby food out of the jar and slid the spoon into his mouth. He removed the spoon while swirling the baby food over his tongue then suddenly his eyes went wide and he quickly got up, ran into the kitchen and spit the baby food out of his mouth. He rinsed his mouth out with a few sips of water, cleaned off the spoon, then walked back into the room and sat on the chair.

"That was disgusting. No wonder you didn't want to eat it," he said and placed the lid back on the jar. He opened the next jar when he sniffed the contents and used the spoon to scoop up some of the baby food. He moved the spoon toward Rosie when she opened her mouth and he felt a sense of relief as she continued eating.

"Oh, this is so sweet," Molly said as he placed the spoon down and sat up a little straighter.

"How long have you been standing here?" he asked as he stood up and Rosie looked from him to Molly and back. He silently chastised himself for not paying attention to Molly's arrival and used the baby wipe to clean off his hands.

"Long enough," she said then looked at the doorway. "Mrs. Hudson let me in and the door was open."

"What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to be around me," Sherlock said and she saw the sadness in his eyes.

"John sent a text and asked me to come over to check up on things."

"Well, as you can see, things are fine," he said while looking at the slight clutter of toys spread over the floor, a child's storybook on his chair and a sippy cup sitting on the mantel and she walked closer. He felt his heart slamming in his chest as he closed his eyes and tried to return his heartbeat to normal. Molly reached out to take his hands as he opened his eyes and the light caused his eyes to turn a bright blue. She had noticed his eyes also turned green in a certain light and figured he had sectoral heterochromia.

"May I ask you something?" Molly asked.

"Yes," he said with a nod.

"Did you mean it when you said you love me?" she asked and he saw the seriousness in her eyes. "I know you can be cruel and heartless most of the time, but I also know you do have a heart. So, tell me the truth. If you didn't mean it, I will be hurt and will have nothing ever to do with you. If you…"

He couldn't stop himself as he carefully let go of her hands to cup her face and leaned down to kiss her lips. It wasn't a deep kiss, but she felt a warm feeling move over her and wrapped her arms around his lean waist. He slowly moved back as she looked at him and a soft blush was moving across her cheeks.

"I did mean it," he said in a soft voice and she placed her hand against his chest, just feeling the beating of his heart against the palm of her hand. Both of them were startled when Rosie giggled while clapping her hands and Molly smiled. Making a little cough, Sherlock looked down when a sour smell caused his nose to scrunch up and he blinked.

"What is that smell?" he asked when he let go of Molly and walked to Rosie. His eyes started watering from the smell coming from her and Molly covered her mouth to hide her smile. "Oh, you didn't?!"

"I'm afraid so," Molly said and he looked at the ceiling. "Do you need any help changing her?"

"No, I can figure it out," he said when he picked the nappy bag up then picked Rosie off the plastic baby chair and headed for the kitchen.

"You're going to change her in the kitchen?"

"What's wrong with that?" he asked moving the door back and went inside. He walked to the counter then placed the nappy bag down and opened it. He took out the changing pad he saw John use a number of times as he spread the changing pad out on the counter and removed a new nappy, a box of baby wipes and the tube of rash cream. He placed Rosie on the changing pad as she looked at him and he gave her a blank look. "Remember our chat about actions and their consequences? Well, this is how we're going to deal with this situation."

He removed the tiny booties, placing them on the counter, when he unsnapped the snaps to her baby jeans then noticed a brown stain on the jeans and on her legs. He slid the baby jeans off of her as he noticed the brown stain on the onesie and lightly picked her up, turning her around.

"Oh no," he whispered at the sight of the brown stain on the back of the onesie and turned her back around. "You really have made a mess."

"Is everything alright?" Molly asked and he turned his head to look at the doorway.

"Yes, everything is fine," he said and looked at Rosie. "Well, not fine, but it's nothing I can't handle."

He carried Rosie to the sink then checked to see if it was clean enough to bathe her and placed the drain plug in. Testing the water with his fingers, he filled the sink then turned the water off when he realized he forgot the baby wash, a towel and washcloth and walked to the counter.

"Are you sure everything is alright?" Molly asked and he started to feel annoyed.

"Yes," he said as he took a deep breath to calm down and found the washcloth, baby wash and a rubber duck and looked at the clean kitchen towel sitting on the counter. He picked them up then walked back to the sink and set them on the counter. After removing Rosie's soiled clothes, he carefully lowered Rosie into the water and handed her the rubber duck. "Don't even think about tossing that."

Molly was sitting on his chair when he came back out of the kitchen and she noticed water dripping from his black curls and his shirt and trousers were wet. Rosie was wrapped in a kitchen towel with her cheek against his shoulder and had her thumb in her mouth. Both of them looked content as Molly smiled and Sherlock gave her a puzzled look.

"You're sitting in my chair," he said.

"I know," Molly said.

"No one sits there except me."

"I know."

"Do you mind getting up?"

"I will after you finish changing her," she said, pointing to Rosie.

"I need to get her other outfit," Sherlock said when he walked to the desk and picked up the clothes. He walked back to the kitchen when he turned and saw a small smile on Molly's face. "You're really enjoying this."

"Oh yes!" Molly said and Sherlock sighed, shrugged and went back in the kitchen.

"Why aren't babies born able to speak?" Sherlock whispered as he paced and Rosie whimpered in his ear. Molly was watching him from John's chair as he hushed Rosie and tried to figure out what was wrong.

"Would you like me to tell you what's wrong?" Molly asked and he looked at her.

"No, I'll figure it out," he said, pacing some more. "We've played. I read her a story. I fed her. I had to give her a bath after she messed herself. We played some more. I gave her something to drink. What else is there?"

He looked at Rosie when she placed her thumb in her mouth and her eyes started closing. Her small body was feeling heavy against his chest and shoulder when he softly laughed and shook his head.

"Finally figured it out?" Molly asked.

"Of course I have," he said as he walked to the couch and placed Rosie down on her stomach. He had seen John place her down like that and he took the other two cushions off the couch, placing them like a barrier against the couch. He watched Rosie close her eyes when he turned and started to walked to Molly. Rosie suddenly whimpered as he walked back and looked down at her. She calmed down when he shrugged, turned and started to walk away just as she whimpered again. He repeated the action three more times then stopped, folding his arms over his chest. "This is blackmail."

"What is?" Molly asked while getting up and walked to him.

"She keeps crying whenever I try to walk away."

"She doesn't want to be alone."

"I'm right here."

"But she doesn't know that."

"What am I supposed to do? Just stand here and watch her sleep?"

"I have an idea," Molly said when she placed the cushions back on the couch and enjoyed the confused look on his face. "Pick her up."

Sherlock picked Rosie off the couch as he held her against his chest and Molly was enjoying seeing him being so domestic.

"Lie down on the couch."

"I'm not tired."

"Lie down on the couch," she said again and he sighed, handed Rosie to her and went to lie down on his back. Molly placed Rosie on top of his chest as he looked up at her and Molly wrapped his arms around Rosie. Kneeling down, she looked at them and Sherlock arched his eyebrows up.

"Why am I doing this?" he asked and she noticed he was absentmindedly rubbing Rosie's back.

"Well, seeing that her daddy isn't here, she needs her godfather to hold her until she falls asleep."

"What do I do once she does fall asleep? If I get up, she will start crying."

"Then go to sleep."

"I just said I'm not tired," Sherlock said and Molly slid her fingers along his wrist until she found his pulse.

"This tells me otherwise," she said, lightly tapping his wrist.

"You deal with dead people. How would you know what a pulse feels like?" he asked and she knew he was teasing.

"Go. To. Sleep," she said and watched him close his eyes. He felt himself relaxing and his mind drifting off as he sighed and let sleep take him. Smiling, Molly stood up, brushed some of his black curls from his forehead then kissed the top of his head and he smiled.

John was half way up the stairs when he saw Molly standing at the top and she placed her finger to her lips. Nodding, he softly came upstairs when he stood in the doorway and looked at Sherlock sleeping on the couch with Rosie sleeping on his chest. Both of them looked totally content and John looked at Molly, giving her a smile. She remover her phone from her pocket when she showed him the photos she had taken of Sherlock feeding Rosie and Sherlock and Rosie sleeping and John swallowed a laugh.

"He is going to be really angry when he sees those," John whispered.

"I know," Molly whispered and watched John walking to the couch.

"Don't," Sherlock grumbled as John tried to pick Rosie off him and saw his eyes were barely open.

"When did you wake up?" John asked.

"Just now," Sherlock said while opening his eyes and his hand lightly moved up and down Rosie's back.

"From the looks of this place, I see you survived your first try at babysitting," John said as he looked around the room and Sherlock frowned.

"It wasn't that hard."

"Sorry," John said, holding his hands up in surrender and laughed.

"And I didn't appreciate being tricked into doing it," Sherlock asked and John became confuses and lightly moved side to side.

"I don't understand."

"You said you had to go on a consultation call, but I don't remember you getting a call. That could have happened before you came over, but you didn't seem like you were in that much of a hurry. I also didn't hear the front door close when you left. That means you were still here. Most likely down at Mrs. Hudson's flat. Speaking of Mrs. Hudson, her having a cold doesn't seem possible because she was perfectly fine when she brought up some dinner for me last night. And, if she did have a cold, she wouldn't risk exposing Molly to it by letting her in. Molly being here was another clue. You said you asked her to come here instead of your place because you would be returning after the consultation, but she didn't want to because that would mean being around me. Her reply did hurt, but, if she was serious, she wouldn't have come. Again, I didn't hear the front door to announce her arrival. That means she was also here. Most likely waiting for you to tell her it was alright to come up. And she mentioned you text her to come over. How would that be possible if you were in the middle of a consultation? That brings me to how long you were gone. You said it would be a few hours. The hospital is just a few minutes from here. Which means you could be there and back in no time. And what consultation takes two and a half hours to do unless the patient had been critically injured? Putting it all together, I realized this was all a trick to see if I could handle taking care of Rosie."

John looked at his friend then sighed and sat on the arm of the couch. Sherlock looked at him as John noticeed how relaxed Rosie was and Sherlock didn't care she was holding onto his shirt.

"Alright. It was a test. But you did look like you were having fun," John said and Sherlock frowned. "Didn't you notice the teddy bear on the mantel?"

Sherlock looked at the brown fur teddy bear sitting at a slight angle on the mantel and scanned the room with his eyes. The teddy bear had a good view of the room and was sitting a little too straight.

"There is a camera in the bear," Sherlock said and John nodded.

"Mrs. Hudson said to tell you she loved the voices you were doing while reading Rosie a story," John said and Sherlock sighed.

"Was that the only camera?"

"No, there was one in the kitchen," John said and Sherlock's mind flashed back to giving Rosie a bath. He had seen a blue plush duck on the counter and he half closed his eyes. "You should see me after giving her a bath. I'm soaked."

"How did you know I would use the sink?"

"I did the first time I bathed her. Mary…," John said then stopped and Sherlock looked at him. "She got really angry."

"It's alright to talk about Mary, John," he said and John nodded.

"Well, I guess I better go," Molly said and headed for the door. Sherlock felt his heart speeding up not from drugs, but the thought of her leaving and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"No. Don't go," he said and she walked to the couch, kneeling down. John noticed how shy Sherlock was getting and he gently tapped Sherlock's foot with his hand then titled his head toward Molly. "Would you…? Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"If it's not any trouble."

"No, it's no trouble at all," John said as he got up and walked to the kitchen. "I'll go see what we have in the refrigerator."

Molly watched him go in the kitchen then looked at Sherlock and he was looking at the ceiling. He was silent for a few minutes then glanced at her and she brushed the stray black curls from his eyes.

"Thank you for staying," he said.

"Thank you for asking," she said and he yawned. "How about going back to sleep? I'll still be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" he asked with a small child-like tone to his voice and she smiled.

"Promise," she said as he closed his eyes and she watched him drift back to sleep. His hand slid down onto the cushion as she took his hand and he slowly wrapped their fingers together.

 _ **A/N: I really liked the scene with Sherlock and Rosie in episode 4x01 and used some of the conversation he had with her in the story. Sectoral Heterochromia is a real condition and that is why**_ _ **Benedict Cumberbatch's eyes are either blue or green**_. _**Thank you to those who read and reviewed this story. I hope I did justice to them.**_


End file.
